The ballad of Joe Hart - a Da Vinci code of England angst | Barney Ronay
(The Guardian Sports News)

All good purges require a bad guy but Joe Hart deserves better than to be remembered as a punchline to the good timesRemember the bad old days of English exceptionalism? Remember the golden generation, the way England´s footballers seemed to collapse and wither in the tournament sun, running through heavier air?Remember David Beckham, sitting behind Fabio Capello in Bloemfontein in his Victorian undertaker´s suit as England were devoured by Germany, stroking his whiskers in mute confusion and looking all the while like a very clever, very handsome cartoon water vole who lives in a mansion and wears a watch-chain and is only just this moment realising he shouldn´t actually be able to talk or stand up or drive his motor car? Continue reading...